Golf Course Architecture - Issue 66, October 2021

65 early September, giving spectators and television viewers a first opportunity to immerse themselves in what is undoubtedly an Italian experience. The rolling site features views of the Castle of Marco Simone, old Casali buildings, olive groves, nearby villages and Rome’s skyline. This is especially evident on the back nine, which is routed on the property’s highest elevation. “I consciously routed the course so most of the risk and reward holes come on the back nine: the eleventh, twelfth and sixteenth definitely spring to mind, but we’ve got f lexibility on the fifth to push the tee forward to create a driveable par four,” says Sampson. “All the par fives are reachable in two because having that excitement option is important for the Ryder Cup. “One of the successes of the project has been the routing. It builds through the round to those climax points on the back nine where you’ve got the risk-reward holes and the views across the course. This constant build then reaches an emotional high at the short par-four eleventh, where players can drive the green, followed by a great tee at twelve where you get a view of Rome for the first time, which we come back to at sixteen and eighteen.” As work progressed, archaeological discoveries were encountered on the property close to where the twelfth and thirteenth holes are now located. And given the tight schedule – work was completed in October 2020 – some design changes were made during construction. “We’ve had to adjust holes twelve to seventeen, but where we are now, the course has become better for it,” says Sampson. “The twelfth is a far superior hole doglegging to the right than it would be playing straight. At the sixteenth, it was the archaeological restriction, particularly the time it was going to take to get a permit, that led us to change the hole’s direction by 90 degrees. That has been one of the huge finds, turning the hole and playing 25 metres downhill, with the tees set on a high point over Rome. Photo: European Golf Design The unmistakably Italian setting of the short par-three thirteenth